Fighter
by Amakatsu
Summary: Maya had always been a fighter.


**~Fighter**

Maya was always a fighter. When the kids at school picked on her for her clothes she fought. When her Dad pushed her mom around, she tried to fight him. Yeah, she was always a fighter.

" _You and I baby,"_ her mother would say, even as she wiped her frustrated tears, _"we're fighters Maya, and fighters survive."_

They had been living out of their rundown Toyota at the time, after being evicted; it all seemed hopeless to Maya; but her mother kept on fighting, so Maya did too.

Over time, Maya began to enjoy fighting. Others seemed to enjoy picking on her, so why not enjoy herself too? There was an anger inside her that burned, and raged to get out, she channeled it with her fists. But the anger began to wane when she met her best friend, Riley Matthews. Maya could tell she was special, that caged beast within her seemed to almost pur in Riley's presence. Maya assumed the light feeling in her chest was happiness, not that she'd actually know. As the years went by Maya bonded with Riley, and the world was okay again; slowly Maya stopped feeling the need to fight. Then everything flipped,changing too quickly for Maya to keep track, as life usually does, and someone new showed up. _Lucas._ Riley really liked Lucas, and what kind of best friend would Maya be to not support Riley? With every decision she made in trying to push them together a part of her died. She was feeling heart break, a feeling she knew too well. Maya began to fight again.

The blond went out late at night, long after saying her goodnights to Riley, and pounded the pavement, looking to pick a fight with anyone she could find. Mostly low thugs and teen boys lurking the street in her neighborhood waiting for a girl like her to walk by. She would smile and they might think her helpless but she had fury and experience. One night, a man approached her, He was a skinny guy with a cheshire grin, and greedy eyes. He told her about a fight club, that she could even make a little cash if she were lucky. She told him to piss off but took the extended card anyway.

It was a late night, Riley and Lucas were finally official and Maya felt like she was burning up. She waited until late when her mother slipped into the house before getting up to leave. Quietly she moved around the house and tip toed towards the front door, stopping at the tiny couch. With a guilty smile she pulled a blanket over her mother who hadn't made it to her bed. She sighed looking down at her mom's face, pinched up from a lifetime of worry. She hesitated for a moment, but clenched her fist. Maya left for her first fight.

She won. She won and it felt good, better than she felt in a long time, not since...since losing Riley. She stopped her track of thought, coming to a halting realization. She really did lose Riley this time. Her eyes burned with tears. She trudged home.

She didn't go to school that day.

She stayed in bed crying.

Maya would be turning seventeen soon. She had been fighting underground for a year now, and Lucas and Riley were officially dating for around the same time. Maya felt tired. She felt so tired. Tired of losing, tired of falling only to get hurt, tired of caring, tired of…

"Maya~" Riley sang, "look at what Lucas got me!" The bubbly brunette exclaimed shoving her wrist in Maya's face. A simple silver bracelet with a turquoise stone; Riley's birthstone.

Maya snapped out of her thoughts and looked up from her desk, she plastered on her usual smile. "That's great Riles, I'm happy for you."

"Yeeeeahh." Riley gushed in her usual dopey way. "Oh-what happened to your hand?" Riley asked concerned. Maya looked down at her raw knuckles.

"Oh this? Nothing, just scrapped it on something probably."

Riley looked as if she would ask more questions but heard her name being called. She gave Maya an apologetic smile, "sorry, Lucas and I are going out after school and I need to meet up with him. See you later?"

"Yeah," Maya muttered watching Riley go, "later."

That night Maya didn't go see Riley, she went to the underground club. She had been offered another gig, to fight a difficult opponent in a no holds barred match, MMA style. It would be the second time she did that kind of fight, but she figured she needed a challenge tonight, but in all honesty Maya didn't feel like fighting.

"I'm serious Maya, you're not ready for this kind of match. Stay with boxing-"

Maya gave an exasperated sigh, "Save it G, I already accepted," she told her part time "manager". The stout man scowled at her, more upset at the thought of losing an asset than Maya's actual safety.

" _Fine._ " Without another word he turned on his heel and stalked away.

"He's right you know." A smooth voice called out. Maya turned to her other annoyance of the day, "some would think you have a death wish." He smiled, but there was nothing comforting about it, a shiver ran down her spine.

"You can't get rid of me so easily Stan." She replied faking bravado. The slimy grin returned and he gave a shrug.

"Whatever you say Spitfire." Then he practically _slithered_ away, silent as a snake. Maya sucked in a breath trying to calm her nerves; she didn't have time to care about Stan. She made her way to her fight.

As she threw each punch in the makeshift ring, her thoughts raced, _what am I doing?_ She swung a right hook. _Why do I keep going like this? I'm tired._ She dodged a fast jab to her jaw, but was cut off guard from a swift punch to the stomach. So far the odds had been in her favor but things began to turn. After the small opening given from when she tried to recover, her opponent came in with swift hits. Another hit on her stomach had her bent over, and her chin was quickly kneed, sending her body shooting back up. Her head pounded and blood stung her eyes, she felt herself sway. She caught her breath staggering and raised her arm to barely block a roundhouse kick, but still ended up sprawled on the ground. The other fighter came on top of her quickly.

 _I'm tired of…_

Punch after punch came snapping her head to the side blood spewing from her mouth, the barrage never ending.

 _I'm tired of living._

Her head lolled to the side and stayed there and she looked into the crowd, she could have sworn she saw Riley there, smiling at her as usual. She looked back up, a fist raised and came down with force. This time Maya lay still. No one needs her anymore. Riley has Lucas, mom has Shaun, Farkle...well, is Farkle. No one needed her anymore.

 _Whack_

So why was she here?

 _Whack_

Maya began to go numb, and breathing became too difficult. Her head felt fuzzy.

 _Whack_

Finally, Maya stopped fighting.


End file.
